Celebrating 5 Years as a CELA
This month I celebrate the five year anniversary of earning the National Elder Law Foundation’s Certified Elder Law Attorney, or CELA, designation.
Should You Add Someone to Your Bank Account?
I know of someone who was joint account holder with his dad for many years, then later his dad then appointed him as power of attorney. How does that work? Is the son still a joint account holder?
8 Essential Estate Planning Documents
If you want loved ones to remember you fondly, tackle your estate planning tasks. Your heirs will thank you for not leaving a legal mess to sort out.
Do You Need an Estate Plan Check-up?
Many of our parents completed their estate plans decades ago. The documents may still be valid. However, if they are stale or outdated, you may spend significant money trying to use them down the road.
What Happens If an Unmarried Partner Dies?
A proper estate plan will help those left navigate the disposition of assets and the probate court system, especially for unmarried couples and some married same-sex couples.
Can Estate Taxes Be Avoided with a Trust?
The estate tax exemption raised by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will sunset in five years—possibly sooner, as the new Congress gears up for a Biden tax overhaul.
What is not Covered by a Will?
While a will is one of the most important estate planning documents you can have, there are things that a will won’t cover.
How to Protect Digital Property
While cryptocurrency isn’t new, it’s attracted a lot of attention in the past year because of its skyrocketing value, promotion from prominent figures like billionaire Elon Musk, and bitcoin offerings from traditional financial firms like Morgan Stanley.
Why are Beneficiary Designations Important in Estate Planning?
Vanguard has sent me a beneficiary designation verification letter. For the primary beneficiary, it says it will be the person I am married to at the time of my death. For the secondary beneficiary, it says, my descendants “per stirpes.” I have one child. Should the beneficiary designation include his name?
Estate Planning Lessons from Celebrity Nightmares
The press has made much of the handwritten will that Larry King executed in the months before he died and in which he purports to change his prior will executed in 2015, to leave his estate equally between his children.
